This invention relates, in a first aspect, to a toy capable of attachment to a toy wheeled vehicle and, in a second aspect, to a combination of a toy wheeled vehicle and a toy capable of attachment thereto.
Toy cars, in particular die-cast miniatures, have enjoyed popularity for generations. However, such die-cast miniatures, once manufactured, essentially have the same appearance for the remainder of their useful life. For younger children particularly, it is highly desirable to provide a toy wheeled vehicle that is capable of changing appearance, to provide variation in the appearance of the wheeled vehicle and to permit their imagination to allow for more interesting and extended play.
There have been a number of attempts in the toy art to provide for various means to alter the appearance of an object or a person, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,920,239 and 4,188,748, as well as in GB 2 171 320 A. However, these efforts have not provided a suitable means for altering the appearance of toy wheeled vehicles in a cost-effective and easy to use manner. Also, there is no means available to alter many different wheeled vehicles using the same toy. Accordingly, it is an aim of the invention to provide a toy which alters the appearance of a toy wheeled vehicle and allows for more varied and imaginative play.
The invention provides a toy including at least one endless stretchable loop supporting or defining a figure or representative object, wherein the toy is capable of being removably held in place around a toy wheeled vehicle by tension exerted in the loop.
Preferably, the toy is capable of being held in place around the vehicle without interfering with rotation of the vehicle""s wheels. Thus, the figure or representative object is located on top of the vehicle and the loop(s) include(s) a thin strip intended to underlie the vehicle.
The invention also provides, in combination, a toy wheeled vehicle and a toy as defined above.